'Mudryk can win Ukraine's fourth Ballon d'Or'

James Shearman

• 9 Mar 2023 15:10 CST
• 1 min read

Oleksandr Usyk believes big things are on the horizon for his fellow Ukrainian Mykhailo Mudryk.

Boxing’s unified WBA, IBF and WBO heavyweight world champion is a big football fan and so has been aware of the Chelsea’s new signing since his time playing for Ukraine’s youth teams.

The 22-year-old made the move to Graham Potter’s side in January from Shakhtar Donetsk in an £88million deal.

Question marks are already being raised over Mudryk’s price tag as he has failed to make an instant impact in his six appearances (two starts) thus far.

In an interview with Parimatch which touched on his love of football, Usyk was asked about Mudryk.

“The transfer fee doesn’t shock me,” the heavyweight king insisted.

“Everything has risen, prices are a little higher than they were.

“I think he’s worth a little more than £100million because I’ve been watching this guy.

“When I saw him for the first time he probably played for the under-18s or under-19s.

“The hairstyle catches your eye, the tattoos.

“He was playing and I was watching him and I liked him.

“It seems to me that this guy can bring the fourth Ballon d’Or to Ukraine.”

To date, three Ukrainian players have won the Ballon d’Or – Oleg Blokhin (1975), Igor Belanov (1986) and Andriy Shevchenko (2004).